This invention relates to an improvement in a dental aspirator. A modern dental aspirator is a vacuum device in the form of a short length of rigid tubing that is hand-held by the dentist or dental assistant. The outer end of the tube is projected into the mouth of a patient adjacent the area being worked upon. The remaining end of the tube is attached by a hose to a source of vacuum pressure, often located at a remote location in the building where it is used. Considerable vacuum pressure is applied to the aspirator in order to enable it to quickly draw off saliva, foreign bodies and the large quantities of water necessary for cooling purposes when using modern high speed drills.
One of the difficulties encountered by dentists when using an aspirator is the tendency of the tip to grasp or cling to soft tissue about the tongue or the lining and floor of the mouth. This not only is extremely painful to the patient, but momentarily prevents the aspirator from assuming its normal function in drawing away fluids, since the tip of the aspirator is temporarily blocked by the grasped tissue. Another problem is the tendency of the aspirator to draw away solid objects, sometimes including inlays, caps, filling materials, bridge facings, and other items which might be accidentally drawn from the mouth during dental operations.
The solution to these common problems as posed by the present disclosure is a relatively simple mesh tip designed specifically for use on an aspirator tube. The tip is in the form of a cylindrical sleeve that fits snugly about the outside walls of the aspirator at its functional end. A transverse open mesh screen formed integrally with the sleeve extends across the sleeve in an angular attitude complementary to the edges at the outer end of the aspirator. The screen can be either diagonally slanted or perpendicular to the axis of the sleeve and aspirator tube. The screen prevents large items from being drawn into the tube and also prevents the buildup of substantial vacuum pressure on the soft tissues in the mouth so as to enable the user to readily release the tube from surrounding tissue areas.
The present disclosure relates to an improved tip for the hand held aspirator, including vents adjacent to the open mesh screen designed to relieve any vacuum pressure that might otherwise develop across the end of the tip and screen should the tip become momentarily attached to tissue within the mouth. The vents are in close proximity to the screen and do not interfere with use of the screen, nor unduly extend the length of the tip and aspirator tube.